LILLIAN LEARNS TO SEE

by

Shannon Vance

Chapter One

Seven Years Ago

A perfect snowflake blew in through the missing side panel of the helicopter, swirled briefly in the cabin and came to rest on Julia’s knee. Then came another larger one, which affixed itself to Jim’s wiry beard. Then another, and it floated all the way forward and landed on the back of the pilot’s chair. No one looked surprised, snow was typical for early May in the Himalayas.

For the tenth time, Julia La Pine checked that she still had the parchment. It was there, safe in her backpack. She settled back in her seat with a troubled face. Now the blades were beginning to spin and their two local guides had climbed aboard, strapped in and were ready to go. The craft shook a little as it parted with the stony ground.

As the helicopter ascended into the confectioner’s sugar sky, Julia put her hand on Jim’s. He looked back at her and said, “Aw... don’t worry so much. I don’t think they’d fly this thing with that big hole if they thought it wasn’t safe.”

“I’m not worried about the hole,” she pulled her hand back. “I’m worried about the Anhenka. Their city, Ra Shingal... It's a hidden city, right? Well, they probably had good reason to hide it. I doubt they’ll greet  us with open arms. We didn’t bring guns… or anything we can use to defend ourselves.”

Jim exhaled loudly and shook his hands in the air, “We’ve been over this a hundred times before and I thought we decided weapons might provoke a violent response. Didn’t we agree we’d stand a better chance appealing to their sense of mercy and humanity?”

As if it itched, she brushed a lock of long brunette hair away from her faintly freckled, slightly upturned nose. “I’d probably still feel that way if it weren’t for these damned dreams I keep having where this horrible man keeps trying to take away the parchment. I don’t know… Now that we’re really here, I’m less sure.”

“We could turn back now if you want. Just say the word.”

Julia sighed, “That’s okay. I’m just nervous is all. It’d be a shame to quit after having come so far. Besides, Kelly is depending on us.”

“That’s right, my wife’s depending on us.”

He leaned his six-foot four inch body back in his seat with a thump. With coarse, curly red hair and beard, he would have looked natural in a kilt. He dressed, however, in a blue and yellow parka and the boots he wore took up a considerable amount of the floor space.

After a short pause Julia asked, “Jim, are you sure this was the right thing to do? After all, you have your son to think about, and I have Lillian. Plus, I’m pregnant. Are we putting too much at risk? You know, Tom was pretty mad at me when we left. I think he believes we’re in love again.”

“C’mon Julia…You knew these fears would haunt you. But, you’re only two months along and Tom’s always been insecure about us. Try to relax and enjoy the ride. I’m sure we’re doing the right thing.”

They both sat back in the helicopter as a gust of cold wind and snow burst through the open side. Although it was uncomfortable, the big hole gave them an unobstructed view of the mountain as they rose higher and higher into the air.

A sudden ray of sunlight brightened Julia’s face. “Oh my God! It’s so big and beautiful.”

They had just risen above the clouds and could now see the entire mountain and its cousins all along the Himalayan range. The mountain shone so white it hurt their eyes. Nonetheless, its beauty was beyond belief. They sat in silence, taking in the awesome view.

“Look!” shouted Jim. “An avalanche!” He pointed toward the rear of the craft at the side of the mountain as a large piece of rock and ice had broken free. It tumbled down and down thousands of feet, followed by thousands of cubic yards of boiling white snow. They watched until it vanished below the clouds.

“Wow!” said Jenshou, their head guide. “You are not seeing that every day.”

The other guide nodded in agreement, then said to Jim, “Hey, boss. Not far now. You want your camera?”

Jim swore, “Damn! I should have gotten a picture of that avalanche! Oh well.” He reached into his duffel bag and brought forth a large black camera. “Julia, are you ready to start seeing?”

She straightened her back, took a deep breath, and slowly let it out. “Yes. I’m ready.”

Her face relaxed and her eyes slightly crossed. A moment later her pupils dilated and her eyes started to dart back and forth rapidly as if she were dreaming with her eyes open. Jim took no notice, as he was busy photographing the mountainside.

But Jenshou said to the guide sitting next to him, “Atanayatt, look at her eyes! This, I have heard of this before, but never have I seen it myself.”

His friend nodded in agreement saying, “Very strange.”

Jim held up his hand, “Quiet please.”

With eyes still wide, Julia said, “Over there.”

She pointed to a large patch of blue ice that stretched below a huge granite wall that was dotted with small black caves. The ice was at the terminus of a ridge that looked possible to traverse by foot. A sheer cliff broke off from the other end of the ice.

“I can see signs of many people who have passed over the ice,” she explained, her eyes having returned back to normal.

Jim asked the pilot, “Can you bring us down to that ice patch over there? Just circle around while we have a look.”

Jack the pilot, shrugged, “I don’t know what you’re seeing on that ice, but all right, here goes.”

The helicopter swung down past the immense granite wall. Some of the holes in the wall were large enough to drive a truck through but no one said anything about them as the helicopter hung low for several moments and then started to circle the ice patch.

“I can see that people have passed across the ice over there, and a kind of path leads up to that rock wall. I wonder what it leads to… Can we hover next to the wall so I can get a better look?”

The pilot said, “Sure. I’ll hold us as close as I can get. There’s no wind right now so we can get pretty close.”

He held the helicopter at about fifty feet above the ground and brought it to within twenty-five feet of the granite wall. The roar of the engine was reflected back into the cabin and it became too loud to hear much of anything else.

Julia re-entered her trance and concentrated on where the traces of the path she had seen ended. “I think I see something. There’s a darkness in the stone. It doesn’t seem right. Is that a 90-degree angle?”  Then she shouted, “It’s a door! I see a door!”

“What?” Jim shouted back.

“A door!”

Julia’s vision was interrupted by a loud clunk on the roof of the helicopter. Then something hit the blades which caused the craft to lurch toward the wall with a sickening jolt. A huge arc of sparks split the sky as the whirling wings met solid granite. Metal and rock exploded into fiery debris.

Jim grabbed Julia, indicating the opening in the side of the helicopter and screamed, “Jump!”